Diamonds – English Lyrics

• By: Rihanna
• Album: ANTI

Lyrics & Translation

Rihanna's "Diamonds" is a global smash and a perfect song to start your language journey. The lyrics are simple yet profound, centered on the powerful metaphor "Shine bright like a diamond." You can learn vocabulary related to light, love, and resilience, and practice connecting emotional themes to simple, repeated phrases. Its clear, mid-tempo pacing makes the pronunciation easy to follow, and the song's message of inner strength will resonate long after the music fades.

[English]

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Find light in the beautiful sea ♪

♪ I choose to be happy ♪

♪ You and I, you and I ♪

♪ We're like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ You're a shooting star I see ♪

♪ A vision of ecstasy ♪

♪ When you hold me ♪

♪ I'm alive ♪

♪ We're like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ I knew that ♪

♪ We'd become one right away ♪

♪ Oh, right away ♪

♪ At first sight ♪

♪ I felt the energy of sun rays ♪

♪ I saw the life inside your eyes ♪

♪ So shine bright ♪

♪ Tonight ♪

♪ You and I ♪

♪ We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ Eye to eye ♪

♪ So alive ♪

♪ We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shining bright like a diamond ♪

♪ We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shining bright like a diamond ♪

♪ We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ Palms rise to the universe ♪

♪ As we moonshine and molly ♪

♪ Feel the warmth, we'll never die ♪

♪ We're like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ You're a shooting star I see ♪

♪ A vision of ecstasy ♪

♪ When you hold me ♪

♪ I'm alive ♪

♪ We're like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ At first sight ♪

♪ I felt the energy of sun rays ♪

♪ I saw the life inside your eyes ♪

♪ So shine bright ♪

♪ Tonight ♪

♪ You and I ♪

♪ We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ Eye to eye ♪

♪ So alive ♪

♪ We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shining bright like a diamond ♪

♪ We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shining bright like a diamond ♪

♪ We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ So shine bright ♪

♪ Tonight ♪

♪ You and I ♪

♪ We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ Eye to eye ♪

♪ So alive ♪

♪ We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Oh-oh, yeah ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond ♪

♪ Shine bright like a diamond. ♪

(waves lapping)

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
shine /ʃaɪn/ A2	verb - to produce or reflect light; to be bright. noun - a quality of brightness; gloss or polish.
bright /braɪt/ A2	adjective - giving out or reflecting a lot of light; shining. adjective - intelligent and quick-witted.
diamond /ˈdaɪəmənd/ B1	noun - a very hard, valuable precious stone, often used in jewellery.
light /laɪt/ A1	noun - the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible. adjective - having little weight; not heavy. verb - to ignite or cause to ignite; to make bright.
beautiful /ˈbjuːtɪfl/ A1	adjective - pleasing to the senses or mind aesthetically.
sky /skaɪ/ A1	noun - the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth.
star /stɑːr/ A1	noun - a large ball of burning gas in space that is usually seen from the earth as a point of light in the night sky. noun - a famous actor, singer, or sports player.
vision /ˈvɪʒn/ B2	noun - the faculty or state of being able to see. noun - an experience of seeing something in a dream or trance, or as a supernatural apparition.
ecstasy /ˈekstəsi/ C1	noun - an overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement.
hold /həʊld/ A1	verb - to grasp, carry, or support with one's hands or arms. noun - an act or manner of grasping something.
alive /əˈlaɪv/ A2	adjective - living, not dead; having life. adjective - full of life and energy; active.
know /nəʊ/ A1	verb - to have information or understanding about something.
feel /fiːl/ A1	verb - to experience an emotion or sensation. noun - an act of feeling or touching something; a sensation.
energy /ˈenədʒi/ A2	noun - the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.
sun /sʌn/ A1	noun - the star that the Earth moves around, which gives it heat and light.
life /laɪf/ A1	noun - the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.
eye /aɪ/ A1	noun - each of a pair of globular organs in the head through which people and vertebrate animals see.
universe /ˈjuːnɪvɜːrs/ B2	noun - all existing matter and space considered as a whole; the cosmos.
warmth /wɔːrmθ/ B1	noun - the quality, state, or sensation of being warm; moderate heat.
die /daɪ/ A2	verb - to stop living; to cease to exist.

Key Grammar Structures

• Shine bright like a diamond

  ➔ Simile (Comparison with 'like')

  ➔ A "simile" is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things using "like" or "as". Here, the brightness of something is compared to a "diamond".

• I choose to be happy

  ➔ Verb + Infinitive

  ➔ Many verbs in English are followed by the infinitive form (to + base verb). "Choose" is one such verb, so we say "choose 'to be' happy."

• You're a shooting star I see

  ➔ Reduced Relative Clause (Omission of Relative Pronoun)

  ➔ This is a reduced relative clause where the relative pronoun "that" or "which" is omitted because it is the object of the verb in the clause: "You're a shooting star (that) 'I see'."

• I knew that we'd become one right away

  ➔ Noun Clause (Reporting Verb + 'that' clause / Future in the Past)

  ➔ The phrase "that 'we'd become one'" is a noun clause acting as the direct object of the verb "knew". "we'd" is a contraction of "we would", indicating 'future in the past'.

• When you hold me, I'm alive

  ➔ Adverbial Clause of Time

  ➔ The clause "'When you hold me'" specifies the time at which the main clause's action or state occurs. It introduces a temporal relationship.

• At first sight, I felt the energy of sun rays

  ➔ Prepositional Phrase (as an Adverbial)

  ➔ The phrase "'At first sight'" is a prepositional phrase beginning with "at" that functions as an adverbial, telling us when the action ("felt") occurred.

• We're beautiful like diamonds in the sky

  ➔ Adjective Usage and Simile

  ➔ The adjective "'beautiful'" describes the subject "We". The phrase "like diamonds in the sky" is a simile that further explains the nature of their beauty.

• Feel the warmth, we'll never die

  ➔ Imperative Mood and Future Simple (Prediction/Promise)

  ➔ The verb "'Feel'" is in the imperative mood, giving a command or suggestion. The second part, "we'll never die" (we will never die), uses the future simple tense to express a prediction or a strong promise.

• As we moonshine and molly

  ➔ Adverbial Clause of Manner/Simultaneous Action ('as')

  ➔ The conjunction "'As'" introduces a clause that describes the manner in which something is done or an action that happens at the same time as another. Here, it suggests actions performed concurrently.